The August 2013 issue of Fire Ecology, issue 9(2), is now available for viewing on the AFE website.  We continue our publication of classic fire ecology articles with Aubreville's 1947 The disappearance of the tropical forests of Africa, first published in 1947.  Our first forum article in several issues includes opinions by Sneeuwjagt and others about how California's fire use and management could be improved by adopting some lessons learned in Western Australia. 

These are followed by five research papers ranging in topic from desert to forest ecosystems.  McDonald and McPherson evaluate the effects of buffelgrass (Pennisetum ciliare) on fuels and fire temperatures in the Sonoran Desert.  Heckman and others investigate the effects of fire on radiocarbon signatures and organic matter in southwestern Oregon.  Evers and others apply a state-and-transition modeling framework to sagebrush-steppe ecosystems of eastern Oregon.  Nelson and others present the results of the LANDFIRE Refresh program, which provides comprehensive vegetation and fuel datasets for the entire United States.  In the last research paper, Kodandapani illustrates contrasting fire regimes in tropical dry forest and savanna in the Western Ghats area of India.  Finally, we present a  book review of Ignition Stories, an ethnography of fire use in Indonesia, written by Cynthia Fowler and reviewed by Don Hankins.

We also note two new and significant developments for the journal.  First, beginning with this issue, we are providing a Spanish language abstract with each forum and  research article.  We hope this will make Fire Ecology more useful to our international audience.  Second, we are now being indexed by Thomson Reuters ISI Web of Science.  We are also indexed by AGRICOLA, Biosis Previews, Current Contents, Google Scholar, Scopus, and the Science Citation Index.  These additions indicate that Fire Ecology has joined the ranks of the most prestigious international journals, and will be the journal of choice for significant research in fire ecology.  Congratulation to our past editors, past and current associate editors, technical editors, webmasters, and authors for their hard work in gaining this milestone.